Abstract
Adhesion force arising from a liquid bridge formed between two spheres has been theoretically analyzed on the basis of the Laplace equation, and it was found that 1) adhesion force could be expressed as a resultant of the capillary force in the bridge and a component of the force of surface tension in the direction of separating two particles, and 2) adhesion force between two identical spheres was theoretically related to liquid bridge profiles obtained from solution of the Laplace equation. In the experiments, results of tensile strength tests of water bridges formed between two identical glass spheres and convex lenses were found to be in good agreement with the theoretical results. In combining the results thus obtained with our previous theory, in which liquid bridge profiles were determined by surrounding humidity and solute concentration in the bridging liquid, it was finally found that the adhesion force arising from a liquid bridge between two spheres could be evaluated as a function of surrounding humidity and soluble impurity content in the liquid.
